Electronic devices having curved displays with supporting frames

ABSTRACT

An electronic device may have a display overlapped by a cover layer. Portions of the surface of the display and cover layer may have curved profiles. The display may include a flexible substrate with bent edge portions protruding from a central region. Gaps may be formed between regions of pixels on a common display substrate or between separate display substrates. A light source may emit light through a gap. Optical components such as sensors may be aligned with windows in the display. The windows may be formed from transparent portions of a display layer that are surrounded by pixels. A frame may be used to support the flexible substrate. The frame may have a metal portion and a polymer portion molded to the metal portion. Openings and other structures in the frame may accommodate components such as optical sensors. Components may be aligned with frame openings and display windows.

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent applicationNo. 62/680,757, filed Jun. 5, 2018, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

This relates generally to electronic devices, and, more particularly, toelectronic devices with displays.

BACKGROUND

Electronic devices such as cellular telephones, tablet computers, andother electronic equipment may include displays for presenting images toa user.

If care is not taken, electronic devices with displays may not have adesired appearance or may be difficult to use satisfactorily. Forexample, displays may be bulky and unattractive or may not accommodate adesired electronic device shape.

SUMMARY

An electronic device may have a display. The display may be a flexibledisplay such as an organic light-emitting diode display. A display coverlayer formed from transparent material may overlap the flexible display.

Portions of the surface of the flexible display may be planar andportions of the surface of the flexible display may have curvedprofiles. For example, the display may have pixels in a central planarportion and may have pixels in a bent edge portion that protrudes fromthe central portion. Pixels may be formed on a front face of the device,sidewalls of the device, and/or a rear surface of the device.

Gaps may be formed between regions of pixels on the edges of a commondisplay substrate or may be formed between regions of pixels on theedges of separate display panels. If desired, a light source may emitlight through the gap.

Optical components such as sensors may be aligned with windows in thedisplay. The windows may be formed from transparent portions of adisplay layer that are surrounded by pixels.

A frame may be used to support the flexible display. The frame may havea metal portion and a polymer portion molded to the metal portion.Openings and other structures in the frame may accommodate componentssuch as optical sensors and light sources for emitting light throughdisplay gaps. Components may be aligned with frame openings and displaywindows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device inaccordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an illustrative electronic device in accordancewith an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative planar portionof a display cover layer and pixel array in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative curved portionof a display cover layer and pixel array in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative sidewallportion of an electronic device in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an illustrative corner portion of anelectronic device in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an illustrative corner portion of aflexible display layer in an electronic device in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 9 is a top view of a flexible display layer of the type shown inFIG. 8 in an unbent configuration in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a top view of an illustrative corner portion of an electronicdevice in which a flexible display layer of the type shown in FIGS. 8and 9 has been mounted in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a top view of an illustrative corner portion of a flexibledisplay layer with corner protrusions in an unbent configuration inaccordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a top view of an illustrative display layer having a centralplanar panel and a strip-shaped panel that wraps around a peripheraledge of a device in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing how a flexible display may be mounted to asupporting frame prior to installation adjacent to an inner surface of adisplay cover layer in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of an illustrative display frame having a metalchassis and an overmolded plastic chassis in accordance with anembodiment.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are cross-sectional side views of illustrative edgeportions of electronic devices in which flexible displays have beencurved around curved outer surfaces of supporting display frames inaccordance with embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative display framehaving structures such as recesses configured to receive electricalcomponents in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice showing how a display frame and display layer may have portionsconfigured to accommodate an electrical component such as an opticalsensor or other optical component in accordance with an embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative corner portionof an electronic device showing how the device may have an opticalcomponent such as a light-emitting component that emits light into adisplay gap in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Electronic devices may be provided with displays. The displays may haveplanar surfaces and curved surfaces. For example, a display may have aplanar central portion surrounded by bent edges. The bent edges may havecurved surface profiles. Arrangements in which displays exhibit compoundcurvature may also be used. Electronic devices having displays withcurved surfaces may have an attractive appearance, may allow thedisplays to be viewed from a variety of different angles, and mayinclude displays with a borderless or nearly borderless configuration.Internal frame structures such as frames with curved peripheral edgeprofiles and/or corner surfaces of compound curvature may be used insupporting flexible displays. In some arrangements, a frame may beconfigured to accommodate internal device components.

A schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device having adisplay with curved surface portions is shown in FIG. 1 . Device 10 maybe a cellular telephone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, awristwatch device or other wearable device, a television, a stand-alonecomputer display or other monitor, a computer display with an embeddedcomputer (e.g., a desktop computer), a system embedded in a vehicle,kiosk, or other embedded electronic device, a media player, or otherelectronic equipment.

Device 10 may include control circuitry 20. Control circuitry 20 mayinclude storage and processing circuitry for supporting the operation ofdevice 10. The storage and processing circuitry may include storage suchas nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or otherelectrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solidstate drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamicrandom-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry 20may be used to gather input from sensors and other input devices and maybe used to control output devices. The processing circuitry may be basedon one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors, baseband processors and other wireless communicationscircuits, power management units, audio chips, application specificintegrated circuits, etc.

To support communications between device 10 and external equipment,control circuitry 20 may communicate using communications circuitry 22.Circuitry 22 may include antennas, radio-frequency transceivercircuitry, and other wireless communications circuitry and/or wiredcommunications circuitry. Circuitry 22, which may sometimes be referredto as control circuitry and/or control and communications circuitry, maysupport bidirectional wireless communications between device 10 andexternal equipment over a wireless link (e.g., circuitry 22 may includeradio-frequency transceiver circuitry such as wireless local areanetwork transceiver circuitry configured to support communications overa wireless local area network link, near-field communicationstransceiver circuitry configured to support communications over anear-field communications link, cellular telephone transceiver circuitryconfigured to support communications over a cellular telephone link, ortransceiver circuitry configured to support communications over anyother suitable wired or wireless communications link). Wirelesscommunications may, for example, be supported over a Bluetooth® link, aWiFi® link, a 60 GHz link or other millimeter wave link, a cellulartelephone link, or other wireless communications link. Device 10 may, ifdesired, include power circuits for transmitting and/or receiving wiredand/or wireless power and may include batteries or other energy storagedevices. For example, device 10 may include a coil and rectifier toreceive wireless power that is provided to circuitry in device 10.

Device 10 may include input-output devices such as devices 24.Input-output devices 24 may be used in gathering user input, ingathering information on the environment surrounding the user, and/or inproviding a user with output. During operation, control circuitry 20 mayuse sensors and other input devices in devices 24 to gather input andcan control output devices in devices 24 to provide desired output.

Devices 24 may include one or more displays such as display(s) 14. Anoutput device such as display 14 may be an organic light-emitting diodedisplay, a liquid crystal display, an electrophoretic display, anelectrowetting display, a plasma display, a microelectromechanicalsystems display, a display having a pixel array formed from crystallinesemiconductor light-emitting diode dies (sometimes referred to asmicroLEDs), and/or other display. Display 14 may have an array of pixelsconfigured to display images for a user. The display pixels may beformed on a substrate such as a flexible substrate (e.g., display 14 maybe formed from a flexible display panel). Conductive electrodes for acapacitive touch sensor in display 14 and/or an array of indium tinoxide electrodes or other transparent conductive electrodes overlappingdisplay 14 may be used to form a two-dimensional capacitive touch sensorfor display 14 (e.g., display 14 may be a touch sensitive display).

Sensors 16 in input-output devices 24 may include force sensors (e.g.,strain gauges, capacitive force sensors, resistive force sensors, etc.),audio sensors such as microphones, touch and/or proximity sensors suchas capacitive sensors (e.g., a two-dimensional capacitive touch sensorintegrated into display 14, a two-dimensional capacitive touch sensoroverlapping display 14, and/or a touch sensor that forms a button,trackpad, or other input device not associated with a display), andother sensors. If desired, sensors 16 may include optical sensors suchas optical sensors that emit and detect light, ultrasonic sensors,optical touch sensors, optical proximity sensors, and/or other touchsensors and/or proximity sensors, monochromatic and color ambient lightsensors, image sensors, fingerprint sensors, temperature sensors,sensors for measuring three-dimensional non-contact gestures (“airgestures”), pressure sensors, sensors for detecting position,orientation, and/or motion (e.g., accelerometers, magnetic sensors suchas compass sensors, gyroscopes, and/or inertial measurement units thatcontain some or all of these sensors), health sensors, radio-frequencysensors, depth sensors (e.g., structured light sensors and/or depthsensors based on stereo imaging devices), optical sensors such asself-mixing sensors and light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors thatgather time-of-flight measurements, humidity sensors, moisture sensors,gaze tracking sensors, and/or other sensors. In some arrangements,device 10 may use sensors 16 and/or other input-output devices to gatheruser input (e.g., buttons may be used to gather button press input,touch sensors overlapping displays can be used for gathering user touchscreen input, touch pads may be used in gathering touch input,microphones may be used for gathering audio input, accelerometers may beused in monitoring when a finger contacts an input surface and maytherefore be used to gather finger press input, etc.).

If desired, electronic device 10 may include additional components (see,e.g., other devices 18 in input-output devices 24). The additionalcomponents may include haptic output devices, audio output devices suchas speakers, light producing output devices such as light-emittingdiodes for status indicators, light sources such as light-emittingdiodes (e.g., crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diodes) thatilluminate portions of a housing and/or display structure, other opticaloutput devices, and/or other circuitry for gathering input and/orproviding output. Device 10 may also include a battery or other energystorage device, connector ports for supporting wired communication withancillary equipment and for receiving wired power, and other circuitry.

FIG. 2 is a front (plan) view of electronic device 10 in an illustrativeconfiguration in which display 14 covers some or all of the front faceFR of device 10. Opposing rear face RR of device 10 may be covered by ahousing wall formed from glass, metal, polymer, and/or other materials.Rear face RR may be free of display pixels and/or may be partly or fullycovered by display 14.

Device 10 may include a housing (e.g., housing 12) that forms sidewallstructures for device 10 and/or internal supporting structures (e.g., aframe, midplate member, etc.). In some illustrative arrangements,sidewall portions of device 10 may be covered with portions of display14. In the example of FIG. 2 , device 10 is characterized by fourperipheral edges: upper edge T, lower edge B, left edge L, and rightedge R. Upper edge T and opposing lower edge B may run parallel to eachother and parallel to the X axis of FIG. 2 . Left edge L and opposingright edge R may run parallel to each other and parallel to the Y axisof FIG. 2 . Front face FR and rear face RR may be planar (e.g., twoparallel planes offset by a distance along the Z axis) and/or mayinclude curved portions.

Touch sensor circuitry such as two-dimensional capacitive touch sensorcircuitry may be incorporated into one or more display panels in device10 as separate touch sensor panels overlapping display pixels or may beformed as part of one or more display panels in device 10. Touch sensorsmay be formed on front face FR, rear face RR, and/or edges (sidewallfaces) T, B, R, and/or L. If desired, icons and other images for virtualbuttons may be displayed by the pixels of device. For example, virtualbuttons and/or other images may be displayed on front face FR, rear faceRR, and/or sidewall structures in device 10 such as edges T, B, R,and/or L and may overlap touch sensor circuitry. Haptic output devicesmay be used to provide haptic feedback when virtual buttons are selected(as an example).

Device 10 of FIG. 2 has a rectangular outline with four rounded corners.If desired, device 10 may have other shapes. For example, device 10 mayhave a shape that folds and unfolds along a bend (folding) axis and mayinclude a display that overlaps or that does not overlap the bend axis,may have a shape with an oval footprint or circular outline, may have acubic shape, may have a pyramidal, cylindrical, or conical shape, or mayhave other suitable shapes. The configuration of FIG. 2 is illustrative.

If desired, openings may be formed in the surfaces of device 10. Forexample, a speaker port and optical windows for an ambient light sensor,an infrared proximity sensor, and a depth sensor may be formed in aregion such as upper region 30 of front face FR. A finger print sensor,touch sensor button, force-sensitive button, or other sensor thatoperates through display 14 may be formed under the portion of displayin lower region 32 on front face FR and/or other portions of front faceFR and/or other external surfaces of device 10. An optional opening fora connector (e.g., a digital data connector, analog signal connector,and/or power connector) may be formed in portion 34 of the lowersidewall of device 10 running along lower edge B. This opening may beomitted when power is received wirelessly or is received throughcontacts that are flush with the surface of device 10 and/or when datais transferred and received wirelessly using wireless communicationscircuitry in circuitry 22 or through contacts that are flush with theexterior surface of device 10.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronicdevice. As shown in FIG. 3 , display 14 may be formed on front face FRand/or rear face RR of device 10. Display 14 may include one or moretransparent protective layers such as display cover layer 40. Displaycover layer 40 may be formed from transparent material such as clearglass, polymer, sapphire or other crystalline material, or othertransparent material. Display layers such as layers 42 may have arraysof pixels 44 that form images. The pixel arrays (e.g., layers 42) maysometimes be referred to as pixel layers, pixel array layers, displays,display structures, display layers, or display panels. For example,layers 42 may be formed from organic light-emitting diode displays. Inthe example of FIG. 3 , device 10 has a first display 14 (or firstdisplay portion of a display panel or other display structure) formedfrom a first pixel array 42 on front face FR. This first pixel array isvisible in the -Z direction through display cover layer 40 on front faceFR. Device 10 of FIG. 3 also has a second display 14 (or second displayportion of the display panel or other display structure) formed from asecond pixel array 42 on rear face RF. This second pixel array isvisible in the +Z direction through display cover layer 40 on rear faceRR. The front and/or rear surfaces formed by display cover layer(s) 40may be planar (as shown in FIG. 3 ) or may have a curved profile.

If desired, the second display 14 of device 10 may be omitted. Forexample, pixel array 42 on rear face RR may be omitted. In thisconfiguration, the inner surface of layer 40 on rear face RR may becoated with a black masking material or other opaque coating and/or maybe coated with colored and/or shiny structures. Coating material can bepatterned to form logos, text, and other visual elements. This type ofarrangement may be used to hide internal components in interior 46 ofdevice from view from the exterior of device 10. As shown in FIG. 3 ,for example, device 10 may include electrical components 50 in interior46 (e.g., integrated circuits, sensors and other input-output devices,control circuitry, display layers 42 such as organic light-emittingdiode panels or other display layers, etc.). Electrical components 50may, if desired, be mounted on printed circuits such as printed circuit48 (e.g., flexible printed circuits and/or printed circuits formed fromrigid printed circuit board material). In configurations such as thesein which the lower pixel array of device 10 is omitted, the portion ofdevice 10 on rear face RR (e.g., layer 40) may be formed from metal(e.g., a stainless steel or aluminum layer). For example, device 10 mayhave a rear housing wall formed from metal. Device 10 may also havehousing walls formed from opaque glass, transparent glass coated withopaque materials such as ink or metal, and/or other housing wallmaterials.

In some configurations for device 10, an opaque material such as metalor opaque polymer may form some or all of the sidewalls of device 10. Asan example, metal that forms some or all of a rear housing wall on rearface RR of device 10 may protrude upwardly along the edges of device 10to form some or all of the sidewalls for device 10. As another example,a peripheral metal band that forms some or all of the sidewalls ofdevice 10 may extend around the rectangular periphery of device 10(e.g., along upper edge T, right edge R, lower edge B, and left edge L).Sidewalls may have vertically extending planar surfaces and/or mayexhibit other surface profiles (e.g., curved profiles).

If desired, some or all of the sidewalls of device 10 may be formed fromclear material and may overlap light-producing components. This materialmay, as an example, be part of display cover layers 40 of FIG. 3 (e.g.,an extending piece of glass, polymer, crystalline material, or othertransparent display cover layer material). Because clear layers ofglass, plastic, crystalline material, and/or other clear layers ofmaterial in device 10 may enclose and protect internal devicecomponents, these outer layers of material in device 10 serve as anenclosure (housing 12) for device 10.

In configurations for device 10 in which sidewalls have transparentportions formed from extending portions of display cover layers 40 orother transparent material, the sidewalls may overlap light-emittingcomponents. Transparent sidewalls may have planar and/or curved surfacesand may be formed from clear glass, clear polymer, transparentcrystalline material such as sapphire, and/or other transparentprotective material. Displays (pixel arrays), light-emitting diodescovered with diffusing material, light-emitting diodes covered withpatterned masks (e.g., opaque coatings with icon-shaped openings oropenings of other shapes), and/or other light-emitting devices may beplaced under clear sidewalls.

During operation, light emitted from the pixels or other light-emittingcomponents under the sidewalls may pass through the sidewalls. Inarrangements in which display panels are placed under transparentsidewalls, images may be displayed through the sidewalls. The images mayform parts of images being displayed on front face FR and/or rear faceRR and/or may be separate images. For example, a photograph may extendacross front face FR and some or all of the sidewalls of device 10and/or a photograph may cover only front face FR while virtual buttonsare displayed on the sidewalls of device 10. In arrangements in whichone or more light-emitting diodes and an overlapping diffuser are placedunder transparent sidewalls, diffuse light may be emitted through thesidewalls.

In addition to optional opaque housing structures such as metal housingwalls or opaque walls formed from other materials, device 10 may includedisplay cover layers 40 and other structures formed from transparentglass, transparent polymer, and/or other transparent material. Thesematerials may surround the interior of device 10 and thereby serve as ahousing for device 10 as well as serving as protective layers for pixelarrays and other light-emitting components. In the example of FIG. 3 ,the front surface of device 10 is formed by a planar surface of displaycover layer 40 on front face FR and the rear surface of device 10 isformed by a planar surface of display cover layer 40 on rear face RR. Ingeneral, device 10 may have planar surface portions and/or curvedsurface portions (surface portions with curved profiles) and theseportions may be formed by display cover layers, other layers formed fromglass, polymer, sapphire or other crystalline material, ceramic, orother potentially transparent materials, metal, wood, or othermaterials.

Transparent portions of device 10 may overlap pixels or otherlight-emitting components that emit light that is visible to a user. Inthe illustrative arrangements of FIGS. 4 and 5 , an array of pixels 44in layer 42 is configured to emit light that passes through displaycover layer 40 for viewing by viewer 52 (e.g., in direction 54 and/orother directions from the exterior of device 10). The inner and outersurface of layers 40 (and other layers enclosing the interior of device10) may be planar and/or curved. In the illustrative configuration ofFIG. 4 , outer surface 56 of layer 40 and inner surface 58 of layer 40are planar. Inner surface 58 of FIG. 4 may be curved or partly planarand partly curved, if desired. In the illustrative configuration of FIG.5 , outer surface 56 of layer 40 is curved and inner surface 58 of layer40 is curved. Inner surface 58 may, if desired, be planar or may haveplanar and curved surface profile portions.

Device 10 may have upper and/or lower surfaces (e.g., external surfaces56 on front face FR and rear face RR, respectively) that are planarand/or curved. The edges of device 10 may have sidewalls with planarand/or curved portions (e.g., surfaces with straight and/or curvedprofiles). As shown in FIG. 6 , for example, the sidewalls of device 10along one or more edges such as edge E of device 10 (e.g., left edge L,right edge R, upper edge T, lower edge B, and/or the corners of device10) may have a curved outer surface.

Edge E may be transparent (e.g., the entire sidewall of device 10 may betransparent and may be formed from extended portions of upper and lowerdisplay cover layer(s)) and/or one or more portions of the curvedsidewall of edge E may be opaque (e.g., formed from glass or othermaterial that is coated with opaque material, formed from opaquepolymer, formed from metal, and/or formed from other opaque structures).Opaque structures (e.g., metal housing wall portions) may extend alongone or more portions of edge E (e.g., metal or other opaque material mayform the portion of edge E between locations 60A and 60B, betweenlocations 60B and 60C, between locations 60C and 60D, between locations60D and 60E, between locations 60A and 60C, between locations 60B and60D, between locations 60C and 60E, or between other suitable locationson edge E. There may be a single strip of metal housing material thatruns around all four peripheral edges E of device 10, there may be apair of discrete strips of metal housing material that run around allfour peripheral edges E in parallel, there may be no non-glassstructures on edges E, and/or there may be other suitable structures onedges E.

Display layer 42 may be formed from a single panel (e.g., a singleflexible organic light-emitting diode display panel having a polyimidesubstrate or other flexible substrate with bent edge portions), may beformed from multiple panels (e.g., multiple panels separated from one ormore gaps), may be formed from panels with slots and other openings,and/or may be formed from other types of displays. Portions of displaylayer 42 (e.g., all of layer 42 and/or the pixels and/or otherstructures of layer 42) may be omitted wherever layer 42 is overlappedby a metal portion of edge E and/or other opaque structures in edge E.For example, edge E may be formed from glass everywhere except betweenlocations 60B and 60D. The portion of edge (sidewall) E betweenlocations 60B and 60D may be formed from metal (as an example). In thistype of scenario, no display layer 42 (or at least no pixels 44) may beoverlapped by the metal and pixels 44 and display layer 42 may bepresent under the glass portions of edge E and/or display cover layer 40on front face FR and/or rear face RR.

If desired, device 10 may have external surfaces with compoundcurvature. A perspective view of an illustrative corner portion ofdevice 10 is shown in FIG. 7 . In the example of FIG. 7 , device 10 hasedge portions (sidewalls) 68 and 70 with surfaces that curve about axes62 and 64, respectively. These portions extend along the straight sidesof device 10 and are characterized by curved surfaces that can beflattened into a plane without distortion (sometimes referred to asdevelopable surfaces). At the corner of device 10, device 10 has curvedsurface portions CP with compound curvature (e.g., a surface that canonly be flattened into a plane with distortion, sometimes referred to asa surface with Gaussian curvature). Each of the four corners of device10 may have this arrangement, if desired.

Flexible displays such as organic light-emitting diode displays withflexible polyimide substrates or other bendable polymer substrates canbe bent about axes such as axes 62 and 64 to form curved surfaces inportions 68 and 70. In compound curvature regions such as corner regionsof device 10, display 14 can be formed from materials that stretch(e.g., displays formed from mesh-shaped elastomeric substrate material),may be formed from flexible displays that are patterned to createflexible strips and other structures that can be bent to cover at leastpart of the compound curvature regions, and/or may use opticalstructures (e.g., lenses, etc.) to redirect light emitted from pixels ina display to surfaces with compound curvature. Configurations in whichdisplay surfaces with curved profiles are accommodated using a flexibledisplay layer such as a flexible organic light-emitting diode displayare described herein as an example.

With one illustrative configuration, a flexible display layer has one ormore protrusions that are bent to accommodate portions of the displaythat are curved. Consider, as an example, flexible display layer 42 ofFIG. 8 . As shown in FIG. 8 , flexible display layer 42 (e.g., anorganic light-emitting diode display) may have a rectangular centralportion 42-1. Along one, two, three, or four of the peripheral edges ofportion 42-1, display layer 42 has elongated strip-shaped protrusionssuch as protrusions 42-2 and 42-3 that run parallel to the edges ofdisplay layer 42. These portions may be bent about bend axes that runparallel respectively to each of the peripheral edges of portion 42-1.One or more protrusions of display layer 42 may be bent to accommodatedisplay surfaces with curved profiles. For example, protrusions such ascorner protrusion 42-4 of FIG. 8 may be located in each of the fourcorners of display layer 42 and may be bent to provide pixels for therounded corners of display 14. Corner protrusions such as protrusion42-4 may be overlapped by curved portions of display cover layer 40(e.g., portions of cover layer 40 with surfaces of compound curvature).

FIG. 9 is a top view of flexible display layer 42 of FIG. 8 in an unbentconfiguration (prior to bending to form a display with curved edges,corners of compound curvature, etc.). FIG. 10 is a top view of a cornerportion of flexible display layer 42. As shown in FIG. 10 , protrusion42-4 (which may sometimes be referred to as a tab) may be curved toaccommodate a rounded corner portion of display 14. Protrusion 42-4 maybe formed as an integral portion of display layer 42 (e.g., portions42-1, 42-2, 42-3, and 42-4 may be formed from a common substrate). Ifdesired, a separate display substrate may be used in forming portion42-4 of display 14. For example, the pixels of protrusion 42-4 may beformed on a display substrate that is separated from portion 42-3 atlocation 72.

In general, any suitable slots or other cuts may be made in flexibledisplay layer 42 to allow display layer 42 to be bent and otherwisefolded to form a display with curved portions (e.g., without creatingexcessive buckling and wrinkling of display layer 42). Anotherillustrative arrangement is shown in FIG. 11 . In the example of FIG. 11, central portion 42-1 of display layer 42 has a rectangular shape, fouredge protrusions such as edge protrusions 42-3 and 42-2 run along thefour respective peripheral edges of portion 42-2, and the corner ofdisplay layer 42 has a series of finger-shaped protrusions 42-5 thatextend radially outwards from portion 42-1 (when display layer 42 is inan unbent configuration as shown in FIG. 11 ). When it is desired toform display 14, protrusions 42-5 may be bend downwardly to cover thecorner of device 10 (e.g., to form portions of display layer 42 that areoverlapped by a display cover layer having a corner surface of compoundcurvature).

FIG. 12 is a top view of a display layer arrangement that uses twoseparate display panels (e.g., two separate organic light-emitting diodedisplay substrates) for forming an upper portion of display 14. In thisarrangement, central portion 42A may have a rectangular shape. Thecorners of central portion 42A may be rounded. To form portions ofdisplay 14 that are visible through transparent sidewalls of device 10(e.g., sidewall portions of display cover layer 40) while accommodatingthe rounded corners of the display, display layer 42 of FIG. 12 has astrip-shaped sidewall portion 42B. Portion 42B may be oriented so thatthe surface of portion 42B is vertical (e.g., so that surface normals ofportion 42B are orthogonal to the surface normal of portion 42A). Thisallows portion 42B to wrap around the peripheral edge of portion 42Awithout buckling.

As these examples demonstrate, display 14 may include one or moredisplay panels (e.g., one or more distinct portions of display layer 42)with protrusions that are bent to accommodate the curved surfaces ofdisplay 14 while avoiding wrinkling of the flexible substrate materialforming display layer 42. Display layers 42 of this type may be mountedto interior surfaces of display cover layer 40 and/or may be supportedby internal frame structures. The inwardly facing surfaces of displaycover layer 40 may be concave. To simplify assembly, it may be desirableto mount flexible display layers 42 on a convex outer surface or othersupporting surface of a frame structure that is subsequently installedwithin a recessed portion of display cover layer 40.

Consider, as an example, the assembly operations illustrated in FIG. 13. Device 10 may include an internal flexible display support structuresuch as frame 74. Frame 74 may be formed from metal, polymer, othermaterials, and/or combinations of two or more of these materials. Forexample, frame 74 may have a metal portion and a polymer portion or maybe formed solely from metal or solely from polymer (as examples). Theouter surfaces of frame 74 may be configured to serve as supportingsurfaces for flexible display layer 42 and may be planar and/or may havecurved surface profiles (e.g., surfaces of compound curvature).

Initially, frame 74 may be uncovered with display structures, as shownin the upper portion of FIG. 13 . Flexible display layer 42 may then beattached to the outer surface of frame 74 using adhesive (e.g., polymer)76 or other attachment mechanisms (e.g., clips or other fasteners,etc.), as shown in the middle portion of FIG. 13 . As shown in the lowerportion of FIG. 13 , display cover layer 40 may be used to cover theouter surface of display layer 42. If desired, a layer of adhesive 78may be used in attaching display layer 42 to the inner surface ofdisplay cover layer 40. In areas in which the surface of frame 74 isplanar, display layer 42 and the corresponding inner surface of displaycover layer 40 may be planar. In areas in which the surface of frame 74has a curved surface profile (e.g., a surface of compound curvature),display layer 42 may be configured to be attached to this surfacewithout excessive buckling (e.g., using wrapped protrusions, multiplesubstrate portions, etc.) and display cover layer 40 may have a matchinginner surface with a curved surface profile. The outer surface ofdisplay cover layer 40 in areas where the inner surface is curved mayalso be curved (as an example).

An illustrative display frame is shown in FIG. 14 . As shown in FIG. 14, display frame 74 may include metal frame portion such as metal portion74-2 and a polymer frame portion such as polymer portion 74-1. Polymerportion 74-1 may, if desired, be overmolded onto metal portion 74-2 orother attachment mechanisms (adhesive, fasteners, etc.) may be used incoupling portions 74-1 and 74-2 together. Portions 74-1 and/or 74-2 mayhave planar surfaces and/or curved surface profiles to help supportdisplay layer 42 in a desired shape. For example, frame portion 74-1 mayhave portions with curved surfaces along four respective display edges(e.g., upper, lower, left, and right edges in FIG. 14 ) and may haveportions with surfaces of compound curvature such as illustrativecompound curvature portions 74-1CC in the rounded corners of frame 74.In the example of FIG. 14 , frame portion 74-2 has openings 79 to helpreduce the weight and volume occupied by frame 74. Configurationswithout openings or with openings of other shapes may also be used. Indevice 10, display layer 42 has pixels that overlap the planar portionsof frame 74 formed by portion 74-2 and has pixels along the curved edgesof device 10 that overlap the curved edge surfaces of frame portion74-1.

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional side view of an edge portion of device 10in an illustrative configuration in which display cover layer 40 has asidewall of enlarged thickness. As shown in FIG. 15 , display layer 40may have planar portions that overlap the pixels of planar portions ofdisplay layer 42 and may have curved sidewalls such as sidewall portion40W. The thickness of sidewall portion 40W (e.g., the distance from theinner surface of sidewall portion 40W relative to the opposing oustersurface of sidewall portion 40W taken along the surface normal ofdisplay layer 42) may be greater than the thickness of the planarportions of display cover layer 40 to enhance the resistance of displaycover 40 to damage during impact events.

To facilitate device assembly, display cover layer 40 may have an upperportion 40A and a mating lower portion 40B that are joined at seam 80(e.g., using coupling joint 80J, which may be formed from adhesive,glass welds, etc.). Seam 80 of FIG. 15 is formed at the bottom of thesidewall formed from portion 40W. If desired, seam 80 may be located atother locations along the edge of device 10 or near to the edge ofdevice 10, as illustrated by illustrative seam locations 80′. All of thesidewalls and front and rear faces of display cover layer 40 may beformed from transparent display cover layer material and/or one or moreportions of display cover layer 40 may be replaced by metal or otheropaque housing structures. As an example, portion 82 of device 10 may beformed from a peripheral metal band or other metal housing member thatextends around the rectangular periphery of device 10 (e.g., the fourperipheral edges and four rounded corners of device 10).

Frame 74 of FIG. 15 includes frame portion 74-2 (e.g., a metal framestructure) and frame portion 74-1 (e.g., a polymer frame structure).Portion 74-1 may, if desired, be formed from polymer that is molded overthe edges of frame portion 74-2. Display layer 42 may be attached to theouter surface of frame 74 so that display layer 42 is adjacent to theinner surface of display cover layer 40 when mounted in device 10.Display layer 42 may cover some or all of the front face of device 10,some or all of the sidewalls of device 10, and/or some or all of therear face of device 10. If desired, display layer 42 may be omitted fromsome or all of the front face, sidewall, and/or rear face of device 10.

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative edge portionof device 10 in a configuration in which display cover layer 40 hassymmetrical upper and lower portions. As shown in FIG. 16 , upperportion 40A and lower portion 40B are configured to be joined (e.g.,using adhesive, laser welding, etc.) along seam 80. Seam 80 of FIG. 16is located in the middle of the sidewall of layer 40. If desired,sidewall portions 40W of display layer portions 40A and 40B may have agreater thickness than the planar portions of portions 40A and 40B orother configurations may be used for display layer 40. The arrangementof FIG. 16 is illustrative.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional side view of a portion of frame 74 showinghow frame 74 may have structures such as recesses that are configured toreceive components 50. Components 50 may be sensors such as ambientlight sensors, digital image sensors (e.g., visible light and/orinfrared light cameras), light sources such as infrared light sourcesthat emit one or more beams of infrared light, visible light sources,infrared proximity sensors (e.g., proximity sensors using infrared lightemitters configured to emit infrared light and infrared light detectorsconfigured to monitor emitted infrared light that is reflected fromobjects in the vicinity of device 10), and/or other electricalcomponents. These components may be optical components that emit and/orreceive light through overlapping layers such as layer 84 (e.g., opticalsensors, light source, etc.). Layer 84 may include display cover layer40, opaque masking material on selected inner surface portions of layer40, adhesive layers, touch sensor layers (e.g., touch sensor layers witharrays of capacitive touch sensor electrodes that cover all or part ofthe front face, rear face, and/or sidewalls of device 10), display layer42, and/or other structures in device 10.

Another illustrative arrangement for accommodating components in device10 is shown in FIG. 18 . In the arrangement of FIG. 18 , frame 74 isformed from frame portion 74-1 (e.g., a polymer frame structure) andframe portion 74-2 (e.g., a metal frame structure). Frame portion 74-2may have one or more openings such as opening 86. Component 50 (e.g., anoptical sensor, light source, or other optical component such as one ormore of the illustrative optical components described in connection withFIG. 17 ), may be aligned with opening 86 in frame 74. Adhesive, amounting bracket, fasteners, or other mounting structures may be used incoupling component 50 to the inner surface of frame 74 or otherwisesupporting component 50 adjacent to the inner surface of frame 74.Display cover layer 40 may overlap frame 74 and opening 86 in frameportion 74-2. Display layer 42 which may be mounted to the exteriorsurface of frame 74 using adhesive and may be interposed between displaycover layer 40 and frame 74. As shown in FIG. 18 , display layer 42 mayhave a transparent window such as window 88. Window 88 may be providedwith enhanced transparency relative to other portions of display layer42 by omitting some or all pixels 44 and associated interconnect linesand other supporting circuitry from window 88. The pixels 44 in displaylayer 42 that display images for the user of device 10 may surroundwindow 88. Window 88 may be aligned with opening 86 of frame 74 andcomponent 50. This allows infrared and/or visible light that is emittedby component 50 to pass through opening 86, window 88 and display coverlayer 40 to the exterior of device 10 and allows infrared and/or visiblelight from the exterior of device 10 to pass to component 50 throughdisplay cover layer 40, window 88, and opening 86.

Display layer gaps (e.g., areas without display substrate material andwithout pixels 44) may be created when portions of display layer 42 (andsets of pixels on these display layer structures) are separated fromeach other. As shown in FIG. 19 , for example, display layer 42 may haveedge portions that are separated by gap G. Gaps such as gap G of FIG. 19may, for example, be formed in the seams between distinct display panels(e.g., gaps between sets of pixels on adjacent organic light-emittingdiode display substrates that are separated from each other) or may beformed between sets of pixels on nearby edges of a common display panel(e.g., the edges of a single display layer 42 that has been bent aroundthe corner of a device or that has otherwise been formed into a shape inwhich the pixels of different portions of the display layer areseparated by a gap that does not contain pixels and/or other layers ofthe display such as substrate material).

To help blend gap G visually with adjacent structures, gap G may beoverlapped by structures such as structure 94. Structure 94, which maysometimes be referred to as a gap-overlapping structure, may be formedfrom colored polymer, polymer coated with an ink or other coloredmaterial (e.g., a polymer coating layer with a colorant such as a dye orpigment), may be formed from a thin coating layer on the inner surfaceof layer 40, may be formed from multiple structures (e.g., one or morestructures formed from polymer, metal, glass, ceramic, other materials,and/or combinations of these materials that create a desired appearancefor gap G when viewed from the exterior of device 10 through displaycover layer 40), or may be formed from other gap-overlapping components.

If desired, light-emitting devices may be used to emit light into gapssuch as gap G. As an example, structure 94 may be transparent to light.Component 90 may be formed in recess 92 of frame 74 (e.g., in frameportion 74-1) or may be received and supported by other portions offrame 74. Component 90 may be an optical component (e.g., a light sourceor optical sensor) or any other suitable electrical component (see,e.g., components 50 of FIG. 3 ). In arrangements in which component 90is a light-emitting component, emitted light from component 90 may passthrough structure 94. Structure 94 may be hazy and may therefore serveas a diffuser. For example, structure 94 may be formed from atransparent material such as glass or plastic that incorporates bubbles,light-scattering particles, surface textures, diffusing coatings (e.g.,coatings formed from light-diffusing polymer layers containing bubbles,light-scattering inorganic particles, textures, and/or otherlight-scattering structures), and/or structures 94 and/or nearbyportions of device 10 (e.g., overlapping portions of layer 40,interposed polymer layers, etc.) may be provided with light diffusingstructures.

A diffuser formed in this way in device 10 may overlap component 90 andmay diffuse emitted light from component 90, so that gap G emits diffuselight. This may help visually blend gap G with images created by thepixels in adjacent portions of display layer 42 during operation.Component 90 may include one or more crystalline light-emitting diodesof one or more different respective colors, one or more laser diodes ofone or more different colors, or other light sources. If desired, lightguides (e.g., light guide films, optical fibers, etc.) can be used inguiding light from a light source (e.g., a crystalline semiconductorlight-emitting diode or laser) to gap G. At gap G, the light guide mayemit the guided light (e.g., through a diffuser overlapping gap G).

The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can bemade to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may beimplemented individually or in any combination.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electronic device, comprising: a display coverlayer having four peripheral edges; an optical component; a frame withfour peripheral edge surfaces, wherein each of the four peripheral edgesurfaces has a curved profile, the frame has a metal portion and apolymer portion, and the frame has an opening in the metal portion thatis aligned with the optical component; and a flexible display having aplanar portion with first pixels and having four peripheral portionswith curved edge profiles that are supported by the frame, wherein thefour peripheral portions have second pixels that overlap the fourperipheral edge surfaces of the frame.
 2. The electronic device definedin claim 1 wherein the display cover layer has a first portionoverlapping the first pixels and has a second portion overlapping thesecond pixels, wherein the second portion is thicker than the firstportion, and wherein the second portion has an exterior surface with acurved profile.
 3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein thepolymer portion is configured to form the four peripheral edge surfaces.4. The electronic device defined in claim 3 wherein the metal portion isoverlapped by the first pixels.
 5. The electronic device defined inclaim 4 wherein the display cover layer comprises a layer of glass andwherein the flexible display comprises an organic light-emitting diodedisplay.
 6. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the displaycover layer has a first portion and a second portion that are coupled ata seam.
 7. The electronic device defined in claim 6 further comprisingadhesive configured to couple the first and second portions at the seam.8. The electronic device defined in claim 6 wherein the first portionhas a transparent sidewall portion with a top and a bottom and whereinthe seam is located at the bottom of the transparent sidewall portion.9. The electronic device defined in claim 6 wherein the first portionand second portion each have symmetrical sidewall portions that arejoined at the seam with adhesive.
 10. The electronic device defined inclaim 1 wherein the display cover layer has a first sidewall portion anda second sidewall portion, the electronic device further comprising aperipheral metal member between the first and second sidewall portions.11. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the flexibledisplay has a transparent window surrounded by the first pixels, whereinthe transparent window does not contain pixels, and wherein thetransparent window is aligned with the opening.
 12. The electronicdevice defined in claim 11 wherein the optical component comprises acomponent selected from the group consisting of: an ambient lightsensor, an optical proximity sensor, a light-emitting diode, a laser,and a digital image sensor.
 13. The electronic device defined in claim 1wherein the flexible display has first and second edges separated by agap and wherein the electronic device comprises a light sourceoverlapped by the gap.
 14. The electronic device defined in claim 1wherein the display cover layer comprises a layer of glass with asurface of compound curvature that overlaps the flexible display.